Out with the old, in with the free | PortlandTribune.com

One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. That familiar adage is at the heart of the online Freecycle network.
When I was getting ready to relocate to Portland from Virginia in 2004, I wanted to reduce my possessions by half. It was an ambitious plan. It was shocking how much stuff I’d amassed in the seven years I’d lived in my home, and there was no way I was hauling all that junk cross country.
I had several yard sales and made nearly daily donations to Goodwill, but I couldn’t keep up with the massive purge.
So I turned to Freecycle.
Freecycle — which combines “free” with “recycle” — started in May 2003 in Arizona to reduce waste in downtown Tucson and prevent the surrounding desert from being overrun by landfills. Now with a network of more than 3,600 groups and 2.3 million members worldwide, this online service is open to individuals and nonprofits alike. Membership is free, by joining the Yahoo group through www.freecycle.org.
Freecycle’s only rule: Everything must be free, legal and appropriate for all ages.

Excert From : Portlandtribune.com
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Lakeshore Advance, Grand Bend, ON
Freecycling take on three ‘Rs’
Don’t throw away, give away

BY CRYSTAL STEWART
Wednesday June 28, 2006
Lakeshore Advance — So you have a few items you want to get rid of – but there’s not enough to hold a yard sale, you don’t know if anyone would actually pay for them or you just want to keep things out of landfill.

Try “freecycling” and wait for people to come to you. You might even find something you need in the process.

Girls on the road to Mongolia - Sunday Times - Times Online

I went on to Freecycle (a website for exchanging unwanted items) and there he was, a 5ft stuffed monkey. The lady who gave him to us is delighted we are taking him to Mongolia. A friend has told us about an orphanage outside Ulan Bator, so we are going to drop him off there.

WEB WONDERS - Irish Independent
What a site you are!

Today, there is more to the internet than Amazon and eBay. Here are just some of the quirkier sites to have captured the hearts of surfers in Ireland and abroad:

freecycle.org

Freecycle is the sort of grass-roots innovation that could not have existed without the web. Subscribers to the service offer one another unwanted goods for free. Freecycle is not a barter site - if a person wants rid of something the first person to respond to a circulated email has dibs on it. The only precondition is that you agree not to sell on your new possession. There are a number of Freecycle communities in Ireland. In the past few months, members have passed on anything from old beds and printers to ’80s video games and Harry Potter novels.

Independent Online Edition > Invest & Save

Put your cash away: bartering is back
Forget the stores. Forget buying on eBay. Swapping is the new shopping, says David Prosser
Published: 17 June 2006

Better than e-Bay, Freecycling is fun, and it’s free

It’s several weeks after the holidays and you’re still stepping over piles of unwanted, unopened gifts. You’re wondering, who thought you’d look good in a Hawaiian shirt in the middle of winter? And why would someone give you a VCR when you don’t even have a TV? It’s all perfectly good merchandise, too good to throw out, but your blood type isn’t e-Bay. On a recent Saturday you would have found a sensible solution at the Freecycle Re-Gifting Freemeet.

Freecycle New York City is one of over 2,000 groups nationwide that match up people who want to get rid of their unwanted-but-useful possessions with others who are looking for that specific item.

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Online swap meet 06/22/06
A Topeka group is proving it through Freecycle, an online trading club whose local membership is growing fast.

“Our goal is to keep things out of landfills that are still good and useful, plus, to help people out,” said Larry Crouse, who leads the local group. “I have things I don’t use anymore but are still good and still useful. It’s also a good way to free my inner pack rat.”
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Summit Daily News for Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper and Frisco Colorado - News

For those of us often attached to our computers (by choice or not) there’s an active local list serve called Summit Freecycle that allows you to post both items you need or need to get rid of.

Currently there are 237 members and posts almost daily. From dog houses to building materials to furniture, items on this list go quickly. You can sign up by going to groups.yahoo.com/group/SummitFreecycle.

APP.COM - What to do with the leftovers | Asbury Park Press Online

Check into Freecycle. Freecycle.org is a set of more than 3,500 free e-mail lists around the country. You post an item you want to give away — pieces must be free, legal and appropriate for all ages — and somebody who wants it will contact you to pick it up.

Easy Ways to Go Green

Recycle smart
From furniture to electronics, one person’s trash is another’s treasure — so when you want to dispose of an old item, don’t make the dump your first stop. Two sites with alternatives: freecycle.org and www.earth911.org. The Freecycle Network describes itself as “a place to give or receive what you have and don’t need or what you need and don’t have — [to keep] stuff out of landfills.”